Missing You
by Red is the new Blonde
Summary: The ShinRa company throws a Halloween celebration and has invited AVALANCHE to join them. While there Reno ponders about love and if he'll see her at the party to tell her how he feels about her. RenoAeris


Random Reno Fangirl 05: Woohoo, I survived Hurricane Wilma! And I didn't get power back till Yesterday though OO;

Sandy: Tis why she hasn't updated.

R R F: Anyways, to celebrate Halloween, I decided to make a one-shot, so Disclaimer!

Sandy: Blah, blah, blah! You know the drill; we don't own anything. On with the fic…

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Normally, Reno wouldn't have come to the ShinRa company's Halloween party. Unless it was mandatory and his job was at stake for not going, and if he did he would of ruined it in some way to make it more fun for him. But then again, this year was different and he had different reasons for coming, _she_ was going to be there.

This year, AVALANCHE was invited. When the Turks heard about this they were baffled at first as to why Rufus would invite them. Rufus then explained that he and Tifa had been seeing each other and thought maybe throwing a party for both AVALANCHE and ShinRa could get them to start getting along better.

So there Reno stood, in front of the entrance to the party. He began to wonder why he came, it's not like she's going to so much as to even look his way. But he figured he could catch glimpses of her every now and then during the celebration.

He sighed and finally entered and loud blazing music that he didn't know nor cared to know reached his ears. The place was packed with many employees all dressed up in costumes, having a good time. The first thing Reno went to do was find his fellow Turks.

He found them chatting with Reeve and Scarlet near the buffet chatting. When Reno approached them the first thing out if his mouth was, "I can't believe you all actually dressed up."

Elena jumped slightly startled and stared at Reno. She then playfully punched him as a greeting. "You're one to talk, I barley even recognized you, I thought you wouldn't make it."

Reno smirked, "Worried I wouldn't make it weren't ya? And what do you mean you couldn't recognize me, I'm much more recognizable then all of you guys put together, only one I could tell for sure was Rude." He said referring to all their costumes.

Elena was dressed in one of those playboy style bunny suites complete with fishnets and a bowtie, it astounded Reno that Elena of all people would dress like that, Scarlet maybe but Elena?

Tseng was dressed in a traditional kimono with his raven hair up. It probably had to do with the fact that he was Wutaiin to dress up like that, and the bindi only made it look better.

Rude, well, Rude was dressed like a gangster in the old days would of dressed, a light tan suit along with a hat and tie, basically the Turk uniform, just more neat and a slightly different style.

When Reno looked at Reeve's and Scarlet's costumes he nearly doubled over in laughter. "Hang on, let me guess. Reeve is a Priest and Scarlet is Satin herself dressed in all her slutty glory to seduce the holy one?" He asked.

Scarlet shot him a look, and Reeve smiled a bit. True, he was wearing a Priest costume and Scarlet was suppose to dress like a devil but she ended up cropping the outfit so much she made the devil look like a whore, it wasn't intended to be revealing. Tseng, Elena and Rude even cracked grins at Reno's comment.

"Still, why did you uh, well…" Elena touched the ends of Reno's low messy ponytail.

"…dye my hair? It's only temporary." He said. Yes, he had dyed his flaming red hair to a dark midnight blue for the night. "It _is _Halloween, and I can dress however I want for the night…" Reno was wearing a black leather trenchcoat that he left open, black leather pants, a gray T-shirt, a chain hung off the side of his belt, and other accessories such as a chain chocker, a cross necklace and earring, and a skull necklace.

"You mean as long as you have clothes on…" Tseng remarked. "Just don't streak again."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll behave this time. I won't even spike the drink." Rude grinned when he remembered last year of the havoc Reno caused. "So has anyone seen any AVALANCHE members?" Reno asked curiously trying to scan the crowd for one.

"Well, I saw Tifa…dancing with the President." Rude said dryly. Reno winced slightly, he knew Rude liked Tifa and he was probably the most shocked to find out Rufus was going out with her, so he probably hasn't accepted it yet.

"Uh, I saw Yuffie somewhere, she's the only one other then Tseng dressed in a kimono." Elena answered.

"We saw Red XIII or whatever his name is, not hard to miss him, considering he's a beast and all." Scarlet said suddenly latching on to Reeve. Reno inwardly shook his head, '…but they're not who I'm looking for…'

Reno sighed and tried to scan the room further, but he just couldn't make everything out. He did spot Vincent though, who looked like he was a Vampire from the 1800s with the nice suites and the hair wore down in a low and neat tail. Not much later he heard Cid and Barret, anyone could hear they're constant ruckus and cursing from a mile away, but that was it.

Reno shook his head and drooped his head down in failure and gave up looking for her.

Elena then squealed when the music changed, "Ooooh, I love this song, c'mon Tseng, let's dance!" She then grabbed a protesting Tseng by the arm and began to drag him.

"W-wait Elena! I can't dance in these wooden sandals! I might hurt myself or trip." Tseng protested but ended up dancing with Elena anyways because she wouldn't let him go.

"Kya ha ha ha ha!" Scarlet laughed while staring at Reeve. "Are you going to dance or am I going to make you?"

"Wait, that means I'm going to dance by force anyways, oh what the hell, why not?" Reeve said and went out with Scarlet to dance.

Reno glanced up at Rude, "Guess it's just you and me buddy," He said.

Rude shook his head, "No…don't not dance just because I don't have a partner or because I'll be alone…go out and have fun like you always do…I'm used to just watching, I'm not a very good dancer anyways…"

"Now wait just a second, I don't have a partner either! You expect me to go out there and look like a moron dancing without a partner? Not on your life Rude. Besides, your more enjoyable company."

"…You could always find a partner." Rude offered.

"Like who? I don't know over half the people here, you really think they'd be a dance companion with some random guy. Besides, Elena's already with Tseng and Scarlet forced Reeve to dance with her, not that'd I'd want to dance with either of them."

"AVALANCHE?"

Reno slapped a hand to his forehead and dragged it down, 'why's being so goddamned persistent?' "Let's see, Tifa…" He paused to quickly find Tifa somewhere in the crowd, he saw her beaming while dancing with Rufus closely and lovingly. "Obviously she's dancing with Mr. Prez and I can't dance with her unless I wanna lose my job. The brat," Reno started referring to Yuffie. "… Hey, where is the runt anyways?"

Rude glanced at his left and Reno did the same. Yuffie was giggling happily while trying to get a reluctant Vincent to dance with her. They caught her saying things like, "C'mon Vinnie, it's just dancing, it's not that hard, it'll be fun!" while Vincent would groan and finally gave in to slow dance with her.

"…The brat even has a date. And the Ancient…." Reno paused and momentarily became solemn and a bit sad looking, 'Aeris…' He snapped out of his daze and shook his head. "She wouldn't want to be with me anyways in any shape or form, nor is she here for that matter. Besides, your company is fun anyways. So, what do you wanna talk about?"

"…"

'Okay, maybe I was wrong, when it comes to conversations Rude is a stick in the mud.'

"…I'm going to go get a drink…I'll be at the bar…" Rude said in monotone and left Reno behind. Reno silently cursed and wandered off around the room, who knows maybe she might be there somewhere.

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Reno joined Rude at the bar about ten minutes later; he plopped down on the seat and ordered the hardest drink they had.

"No luck?" Rude asked.

Reno didn't even bother answering him; he knew the answer, so why ask?

"Hmm…there they go again, dancing close to each other without a care in the world that they're organizations are enemies." Rude said watching Rufus and Tifa dance by again.

"Yeah, love is strange ain't it? Makes you do weird things." Reno responded. "Strife ain't looking very happy about Rufus and Tifa being together is he?" Rude glanced at Cloud and Reno was right, Cloud was scowling, grimacing, and scoffing at them and watching their every move.

"Well, I'm not exactly jumping with happiness either…"

"Cause you like Lockhart."

"Yeah, well, that's why, but if you love someone let them go, right? And if they love you back they'll return."

"…Right…I guess." Reno was starting to get lost in thought.

"So I let Tifa go, no use pursuing her when she was in love with Cloud."

"…But Strife liked the Ancient…"

"True, but now that she's with Rufus he's now paying attention to her more than ever and ignoring the Ancient. I guess Tifa didn't like waiting on him, I mean I thought she gave enough clues that she was in love with him but he ignored them…till now…"

"Guess Strife now knows the true meaning of 'Don't take things for granted.' Or 'You don't miss it till it's gone.' And Strife tossed her love aside like it was expandable, now he realizes that when she's in another's arms that she wasn't." Reno said dully, getting even more in a daze as he stared into his drink.

"…Yeah…why are you suddenly so serious and quite?" Rude asked as it dawned on him that Reno's words were rather deep.

"…"

Rude tried thinking of a way to get Reno to talk and act like his normal playful self. He then thought of a topic that might bring him back. "Hey Reno…" Reno looked up from his drink in response.

"You never told me who you liked back in Gongaga, although I do know Tseng likes Elena back now and is over the Ancient."

That question startled Reno and his face now had a hint of a blush on it.

Rude chortled, "Reno? Dare I say are you blushing? C'mon man, you know whom everyone likes but we don't know whom you like. And you wouldn't stop asking till I confessed so tell me, who do you like?" Rude urged, he wanted to pry it out of Reno even though he had a good idea as to who he liked, he just wanted to hear it from his comrade himself and maybe restore the red-head's (or in this case red-dyed-midnight-blue-head) active personality in him.

"No one!" Reno snapped, "And, I'm not blushing." He added as an afterthought, turning even redder in embarrassment.

Rude smirked, this was as close as he was going to get, he knew Reno wouldn't admit he's been crushing on the girl he's been chasing for his six years as a Turk.

"Wipe that smirk off your face!" Reno snapped. Rude frowned, "Your starting to sound like mother." He grumbled.

"Bastard."

"Moody asshole…"

Silence.

Reno heaved a sigh, "Sorry man, I'm just a bit edgy and a little disappointed,"

"That's okay, I was doing that on purpose…"

"WHAT? You were trying to get under my skin on purpose?"

"…."

"Don't get silent on me Rude!"

"…"

"Fine be that way!"

"…That's why I got you agitated, so you can act like your normal self."

Reno raised an eyebrow. "You have some strange logic…"

"…But it worked did it not?"

"…Yeah," He then smiled at his best friend and held up his empty glass of whiskey, "Hey bartender, got us some more drinks here!"

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It was midnight and the party had ended, and just about all the guests left for home. Tifa and Rufus were the last people Reno saw go; he had stayed behind just for the hell of it.

"What an interesting night, happy Halloween to me." Reno said lifting his drink and then downing the rest of it. He took out a pack of cigarettes, placed one in his mouth and was about to light it till he realized he didn't have a lighter. "Damnit." He cursed.

Reno turned around in his seat to see if there were any lighters or matches around, but instead he stared across the room and the cigarette fell out of his mouth, and his mouth agape in shock.

Across the room was a woman with long wavy light brown hair in a slightly above knee length black dress that had a fake cattail in it sown into the dress and she wore a headband with cat ears to complete the costume. She had her back turned to Reno and she appeared to be looking out the window lost in thought.

'It's her…I thought she wasn't here…glad I was wrong…and glad I came…' "Aeris…" Reno whispered her name. He suddenly then scrambled to get off the stool, but accidentally ended up falling in the process.

Aeris suddenly spun around surprised and stared at Reno confused with a small hint of amusement in her eyes.

'Shit, I must look like such an idiot.' He thought while rubbing his head where it hurt. He got up and gave Aeris a sheepish grin. "Eh-heh-heh, whoops, I'm such a klutz." He laughed at his own stupidity.

"Hmm…You okay though?" She asked looking a bit concerned.

"Me? Oh yeah, I'm fine, I'm used to getting hurt a lot, it's just not as, well, comical." He said as he approached her.

"You seem familiar." She said dully as he stood next to her by the window.

Reno swallowed afraid she might leave if he told her who he was, this was one of the only times he'd ever be close to her like this. "That's because you do, it's me Reno of the Turks."

Her expression did not change nor did she flinch or look even an ounce surprise or anything. "I figured as much." She answered in a hollow voice.

'What? No get away from me Turk, no leave me alone, not even so much as a gasp of worry? This isn't right…'

Reno wasn't sure what, but, there was something very wrong about her. He couldn't put his finger on it but it seemed like she had a gloomy aurora around her, like she was depressed, and emotionless, hollow.

"So, what are you looking at?" he asked trying to match his gaze with hers.

Aeris directed her gaze into Reno's aquamarine eyes, her usual bright green eyes that had danced with happiness, were now dull and emotionless, no longer vivid. "Nothing," She responded.

Reno didn't like her looking like this, he flashed her a weary smile hoping to get some response that showed emotion back. "C'mon, you had to have been looking at something."

Aeris averted her emerald eyes from his, "I was looking at the stars and moon…"

"Yeah, it is nice tonight, the limitless, dark, velvet night sky adorned with stars that shine as bright as diamonds and will blaze for hundreds of years, and the dazzling full moon…it's all…breathtaking." Reno replied.

"That was rather poetic." Aeris said looking a little shocked to see someone like Reno appreciate things like the sky, moon, and stars.

"Hmm? It was? I was just saying what came to mind."

"I agree though, I think the sky is beautiful tonight which is rare in Midgar."

"Yeah, because the sky is always polluted and the lights are on making it hard to see stars." Reno took a deep breath and turned to face Aeris, "Can I ask you something?"

"You just did,"

Reno raised an eyebrow. "Okay Miss Smart-Alec, can I ask you another question after this one?"

"Shoot."

"Why…why do you seem so depressed?"

Aeris swallowed, "I was afraid you'd ask that,"

"You can tell me."

"It's, well, Cloud," She started sniffling. "He just….he just forgot about me when he found out about Rufus and Tifa. It's like I don't exist anymore, he doesn't acknowledge me, he just ignores me like I don't have feelings…I feel neglected, and no one else has really noticed or cared to think I exist anymore," Tears began to well up in her eyes and she began to choke up, trying to hold back her tears. "I just…No one acknowledges my existence, it's like I'm dead, no, not dead, then they would have remembered me, more like, I never existed or met them!" And she then let the tears fall from there.

Reno looked at her with a mix of seriousness, sympathy, and deep concern expression, on the inside, seeing her like this was eating away at his heart. Reno silently cursed Cloud for making her like this and he placed his hand under Aeris's chin and gingerly tilted it up so she was facing him and not the ground. Tears were still streaming down her cheeks which Reno brushed away and tucked a stray strand of brown hair behind her ear.

Reno let Aeris cry it all out and waited till her wailing turned to heavy breathing and looking ready to cry again any minute. "Shh, please don't cry. Forget Strife, he doesn't realize by going after a woman that's already taken is stupid because he then looses a special gal like you. Just forget him, if he's willing to just forget you, the he doesn't deserve anyone." He comforted while stroking her cheek.

Aeris felt a little better after he tried to cheer her up a bit. "But," she sniffled, "I still feel forgotten and nonexistent."

Reno withdrew his hand, and spoke in a serious tone. "That's not true. Tifa; your best friend; would never forget about you, and neither would any of the other members of AVALANCHE. And even if, they didn't acknowledge you, or everyone else in the world pretends you don't exist, you'll still always be known by one person and never be forgotten because I…I…" Reno felt himself begin to choke up.

He fell to his knees and began to mentally curse himself. 'God damnit, am I retarded? How hard is it to say those three simple words. I've said them before, why can't I form it into a sentence.'

Reno stood up and tried once more, "Because I…I-" But Reno only choked again and he felt himself end up tearing at the fact he couldn't tell her that he loved her. He couldn't utter those three single words, he couldn't tell her that he's loved her since he met her six years ago, he couldn't say that he loves her kindness to others and that she believes in second chances and that she believes everyone is good in some way, he couldn't thank her for her kindness to him. She wouldn't know that Reno would always try and take the job to capture her so he can let her escape in order to protect her from ShinRa, and he did that just because he loved her, and by being a Turk all he could do was admire her from afar.

Instead Reno just pulled Aeris towards him and embraced her tightly while muttering, "Just please don't cry, because it hurts me just as bad to see you like this," he whispered letting the tears stream down his cheeks and fall to the ground.

Aeris gasped with surprise when she heard that, and she felt tears also beginning to well up in her eyes, she wrapped her arms around Reno and nodded to show she understood. "I know what you mean," she whispered back, "…and, I'm sorry… I didn't mean to make you feel bad too," she added.

Reno broke away from the embrace, "Thank you." He then began to rub the tears out of his eyes while Aeris did the same and cleaned her face.

Aeris suddenly got very close to Reno and whispered softly in his ear, "Here's my thank you gift to you for protecting me all this time." But before Reno could react their lips met and she had given Reno and affectionate kiss full on the lips.

When she parted her lips from his she looked up at Reno and began giggling.

"Eh? What's so funny?" He asked not completely recovered from the shock, he was savoring the moment.

"Reno, you're blushing."

Reno laughed lightly at his embarrassment, "I am? I am ain't I? Heh-heh…" Reno smiled warily, he was fully aware of the blush across his face, by thinking about the kiss she gave him it only made him turn redder and feel giddy.

Aeris beamed back at him, the liveliness back in her eyes along with her happy aurora, she was no longer emotionless and stiff, she was back to her usual self, and so was Reno, happy that he managed to make her feel better.

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A few hours later Aeris was sitting on the couch and Reno was lying down on the couch asleep, using Aeris's lap for a pillow for his head. Aeris didn't mind being a human pillow for Reno, she ran a delicate hand through his hair and smiled down at him while he mumbled things in his sleep.

'_Somehow, I get the feeling this isn't what you meant when you wanted to "Sleep with me."' _Aeris thought and it made her mentally laugh at how it turned out.

"I love you Aeris." She heard Reno mumble which only made Aeris's grin widen. Maybe he couldn't say it when conscious, but he could while he was asleep. Either way it didn't make a difference to Aeris, he said it, and he meant it, and she knew it.

"I love you too. Yours and always, and you will always have the key to my heart." She whispered back to him. "Hope you had a happy Halloween, because thanks to you, I sure did."

_Fin._

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R R F: ZOMG! I was actually tearing up while I wrote this one-shot, Ya'll know I love Reno/Aeris to bits and I went with a sad approach instead of a happy one. Well, actually it started light hearted but then it became heavy, I was typing this while listening to the Japanese version of For Fruits Basket (Opening song for the anime Fruits Basket) and it made the fic sound better. Just a suggestion for anyone who wants a more dramatic take. Anywho, read and review please, hope ya'll like the one-shot and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!


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